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Recommendation 45: Create a pilot program for contracting directly with 

information technology consultants through an online talent marketplace. 

Problem

Work in the IT discipline often requires unique expertise of state-of-the-art technologies best provided 

by independent consultants. These outside experts can bring a specialized skill or new perspective at 

key decision points in long-term programs or efforts. Being able to quickly and easily use such 

consulting services to supplement existing IT support ensures government programs can succeed in 

today’s rapidly evolving IT landscape. This real-time flexibility is hard to achieve within the limitations 

of federal hiring and contracting practices. IT professionals do not always want to become full-time 

employees or navigate the complexities of becoming a prime government contractor or subcontractor. 

Instead, such highly qualified professionals choose to work as independent contractors in the gig or

freelance economy, often finding work through online talent marketplaces. The federal government 

needs to acquire IT experts more in line with commercial best practices, improving the speed, cost, and 

quality of resources that support complex IT solutions. 

Background

Today’s workforce is modular and flexible, characterized by the concept of the gig economy, a term that 

describes the popularity of freelance work for both employees and employers. This kind of work has 

become more prominent with the rise of companies like Uber as well as other technology-enabled 

platforms that match workers with short-term or intermittent jobs. In the gig economy, employers can 

use the unique skill sets of independent contractors for specialized projects or limited periods without 

taking on the liability and expense of full-time employees. Approximately 10 percent of workers count 

their primary job as contingent or an alternative employment arrangement, with more people 

supplementing traditional jobs with freelance work.1 In total, freelance workers contribute 

approximately $1.4 trillion annually to the American economy.2 These freelance working relationships 

will increase dramatically in the next decade, largely fueled by online talent marketplaces. By 2027, 

most of the American workforce is predicted to be freelance workers.3

IT professionals commonly work as independent consultants to provide short-term assistance. SAP, 

one of the largest business software companies in the world, trains and certifies numerous 

IT companies and independent consultants to provide services to support SAP clients. Hundreds of 

companies provide consultants certified in SAP skill sets as needed to support implementation and 

integration of SAP systems. “Nearly three-fourths of all SAP-related jobs last somewhere between four

and 12 months, with the greater percentage of those falling in the four- to six-month range.”4 Often,

these temporary positions fill a growing IT knowledge gap. The 2017 Global Knowledge Salary Report 

 

1 “Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements News Release,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 7, 2018, accessed July 6, 2018, 

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/conemp.htm. 2 “Upwork Press Release,” Upwork, accessed October 19, 2018, https://www.upwork.com/press/2017/10/17/freelancing-in-america2017/. 3 Ibid.

4 Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG), Seeking Short-Term SAP Superheroes: The Predicament of the SAP Gig Economy, 2018, 3, accessed 

October 19, 2018, https://blog.asug.com/hubfs/Talent%20Hub/2018_GIG_WP_v5.pdf. 
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indicated that more than two-thirds of IT decision-makers recognize “a gap between their team’s skill 

levels and the knowledge required to achieve organizational objectives.”5

The most in-demand skills sets for both the private and public sector are cloud computing, 

cybersecurity, and networking. An estimated 285,000 open cybersecurity positions exist in the federal 

government, with a global projected shortage of 1.8 million by 2022.6 Tyson Meadors, director of 

cybersecurity policy at the National Security Council, notes that individuals with these skills move 

frequently between jobs in the public and private sectors, adding that the government needs to make 

sure “we have the ability to allow people to go and come from federal service over the course of their 

careers.”7

In the private sector, business structures are transforming to reflect the modularity and flexibility of the 

digital, on-demand workforce enabled by online talent marketplaces. The government is lagging 

behind this trend. Accenture’s Workforce Marketplace report predicts that by 2022, organizations that 

resist these technological changes and cling to old bureaucratic business models “will experience rapid 

deterioration of market power.”8 The government must be more intentional about following 

commercial innovations in managing its workforce, beginning with IT specialists. The bureaucratic 

government model no longer fits the way people want and need to work in the digital information 

economy.

Discussion 

PMs Struggle to Use IT Consultants Strategically

The ability to rapidly obtain specialized IT support is particularly critical as the federal government 

acquires state-of-the-art IT and modernizes its complex web of legacy systems. As IT solution

complexity grows, programs will continue to need immediate IT consultant services to provide 

independent, objective advice and recommendations. These consultants bring specialized expertise and 

commercial best practices that maximize the business value of IT systems. The specialized skill sets 

needed by the government will become harder to predict and procure as technology continues to 

evolve. 

PMs use consultants for both strategic and tactical guidance, which overlap to varying degrees. 

Strategic consultants provide guidance at key decision points for issues related to cloud computing, 

 

5 Global Knowledge Training, 2017 IT Skills and Salary Report: A Comprehensive Study from Global Knowledge, 6, accessed October 19, 

2018, https://mindhubpro.pearsonvue.com/v/vspfiles/documents/2017_Global_Knowledge_SalaryReport.pdf. 6 “Retrained agency employees can be a key source of cybersecurity talent, NSC official says,” March 8, 2018, Scoop News Group, 

accessed October 19, 2018, https://www.fedscoop.com/agencies-can-retrain-employees-get-cyber-talent/. Center for Cyber Safety and 

Education, 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study: Benchmarking Workforce Capacity and Response to Cyber Risk, accessed 

October 19, 2018, https://iamcybersafe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/N-America-GISWS-Report.pdf. 7 “Retrained agency employees can be a key source of cybersecurity talent, NSC official says,” March 8, 2018, Scoop News Group, 

accessed October 19, 2018, https://www.fedscoop.com/agencies-can-retrain-employees-get-cyber-talent/. 8 Accenture, Workforce Marketplace: Invent Your Future, 2017, 13, accessed October 19, 2018, 

https://www.accenture.com/t20180803T070620Z__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/Accenture/next-gen-4/tech-vision-2017/pdf/AccentureTV17-Trend-3.pdfla=en?la=en. 
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systems analysis, and architecture. Tactical consultants provide technical expertise in areas such as 

cybersecurity, network management, design and integration, programming, and data conversion. 

Specialized IT consultants command a high hourly rate in both the commercial marketplace and on 

government contracts. Typical rates on government contracts range from approximately $200 to 

$400 per hour for job titles including systems architect, BPR specialist, database specialist, informatic 

specialist, and subject matter expert (SME). One contractor rate sheet showed a level-one systems 

architect billing at approximately $200 per hour, a level-three BPR specialist at $222 per hour, and a 

level-three SME at nearly $400 per hour.9 Many of these specialists remain permanently on contract; 

others are brought in for short consulting projects. In the commercial marketplace, such specialists earn 

similar wages. These unique skill sets justify high wages and empower consultants to accept only those 

working conditions that suit them. 

Faced with an immediate need for new expertise on specific information systems or technological 

capabilities, a PM managing a multibillion-dollar budget may lack direct access to the global 

marketplace of individual IT consultants and struggle to get help from the most qualified individuals. 

An example from the Army illustrates this challenge. The PM for a defense business system spent 

months troubleshooting an issue with slow logons that was affecting user productivity, but was unable 

to resolve it by working with the OEM and system integrator. Program staff tried to debug the problem 

via satellite, creating additional delays. The PM determined the problem needed to be solved by a 

system architect with expertise in large-scale computing and was aware of an independent consultant 

with decades of experience in related work. Ultimately, there was no mutually agreeable way to use 

this person’s expertise either as a prime or subcontractor. He did not meet the requirements under the 

existing Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) effort because his rate was too high, and 

he did not meet educational requirements for the labor description categories in the SETA contract. The 

expert was also unwilling to become a prime contractor due to the amount of paperwork and time 

required, a known barrier to entry for small businesses seeking to work directly with the federal 

government.

10 Five years later, performance problems continue to linger. 

In such situations, government PMs have limited strategies for obtaining the right IT expertise. Several

acquisition routes are available when the government needs to use IT consulting services. Many of 

these acquisition strategies are sufficient for maintaining a static IT workforce dedicated to a program, 

but none of them are ideal for short-term situations in which an outside expert is needed quickly to 

provide strategic problem-solving support informed by best commercial practices.

Full-time Employees 

Programs may hire government employees who are permanently attached to an organization. These 

employees are hired by policies that are increasingly acknowledged as outdated, limited by the general 

service (GS) categorization and pay schema. It commonly takes up to 6 months to hire employees in 

this way and includes numerous certifications and accommodation of various hiring policies. 

 

9 See, for example, Deloitte’s contractor-site hourly rates for the federal government, accessed October 19, 2018, 

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/public-sector/us-fed-contractor-site-hourly-rates-10172014.pdf. 10 Representative from Global Combat Support System – Army (GCSS-Army), discussion with Section 809 Panel, May 2018.
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Recent and pending changes to direct hire authority acknowledge the need for expedited hiring 

processes. FAR 37.112, Government Use of Private Sector Temporaries, has been used to acquire shortterm help, but the authority remains limited. It allows for “contracts with temporary help service firms 

for the brief or intermittent use of the skills of private sector temporaries.” The authority for this 

temporary hiring comes from 5 CFR 300, Subpart E, which clarifies the temporary help must meet a 

critical need that is defined as “a sudden or unexpected occurrence” with the stipulation that “a

recurring, cyclical peak workload, by itself, is not a critical need.” 

This type of authority is not enough to meet the demands of today’s IT projects. The civil service needs 

better and faster access to science, technology, engineering, and math employees, as acknowledged in 

2018 by then OPM Director Jeff Pon. Referring to changes recommended in the President’s 

Management Agenda (PMA), he admitted, “The whole philosophy of having a job for life is a thing of 

the past.”11 Efforts to overhaul the federal workforce proposed in the PMA and the FY 2019 President’s 

Budget are an attempt to fix the problem by retraining existing employees for IT positions and using 

more flexible hiring policies.12 The FY 2019 NDAA provides DoD with direct hire authority for highdemand personnel, including for any position involved with cybersecurity.13

Additional problems hiring federal employees come from an outdated pay scale that lags behind 

market rates. The maximum pay rate is GS-15 step 10, which is approximately $165,000 with locality 

adjustment for the National Capital Region, translating to about $80/hour. For IT specialists, this pay 

scale is too low to compete with the commercial marketplace, and the lengthy bureaucratic hiring 

process is unappealing. In one case, Army Cyber Command sought to hire a midlevel specialist who 

was working for a large software firm. To create a reasonably attractive offer, the agency needed to add 

substantial recruitment bonuses and benefits to the top of the federal pay scale, and even then, the 

individual had to take a pay cut of more than $60,000 a year—which he reluctantly did to serve the 

government.14

Existing Contracts 

PMs traditionally rely on expert consultants provided by the OEM such as SAP or consultants on 

existing SETA contracts. In such cases, the consultants’ high labor costs are budgeted into the life of the 

contract. The PM will keep these resources on board so they are available when needed, although they 

often have extended periods of downtime when their skills are not called for. This OEM/SETA 

approach is costly. The government ultimately pays a high ongoing cost for these consultants without 

obtaining sufficient value out of that resource. Worse, consultants’ skills can atrophy or become 

suboptimal when they are not working within their niche or continuing to hone their knowledge and 

skills. The federal government does not keep pace with technological innovation in the private sector, 

one of many reasons to encourage easy movement between the two worlds. 

 

11 “Trump’s management agenda ties together IT, data and workforce overhaul,” Scoop News Group, March 20, 2018, accessed 

October 19, 2018, https://www.fedscoop.com/presidents-management-agenda-ties-together-data-workforce-overhaul/ 12 The White House, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2018: 7. Strengthening the Federal 

Workforce, accessed October 19, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ap_7_strengthening-fy2019.pdf 13 Section 1101 of FY 2019 NDAA, Pub. L. No. 115-232 (2018). 14 Representatives from Army Cyber Command, discussions with Section 809 Panel, August 2018.
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For example, a consultant experienced with international military systems in disconnected 

environments was flown from Israel to Washington, D.C., once a month during a business system’s 

development. His high wages were made even more costly with these additional travel costs, and he 

remained on the contract for more than 5 years. Because he was consulted only intermittently for

problems related to disconnected operations, he was frequently available and assigned to simpler tasks 

for which he was overpaid. The program could have saved money by using and paying for this expert 

on an as-needed basis, meeting lower-level needs with other workers more suited to those tasks. The 

program was motivated to keep him on contract to avoid the time-consuming process of getting a new 

consultant on contract when the intermittent problems arose. 

Using an existing SETA support contractor to bring in a technical expert involves many steps that take 

months to complete. The SETA contractor must find an adequate resource, negotiate a subcontracting 

agreement or employment agreement, provide a proposal, and negotiate an appropriate labor category 

and rate with the government. The process is also burdensome for independent consultants who 

become subcontractors. Discussions with several independent contractors revealed the following 

common steps:

§ Complete a nondisclosure agreement and a teaming agreement with proposed rate structure. 

(2–3 days).

§ Review and sign a subcontract agreement and statement of work that range from 25 to 

100 pages (taking 3–6 weeks) and include the following:

- Terms & Conditions 

- Numerous FAR/DFARS clauses 

- Certificate of insurance (one onerous requirement noted was liability insurance of 

$3 million)

- Pricing templates

- Representations & Certifications

- Certification of no conflict of interest

- Certification of good standing

- Business size certification

- Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act certification

- W9 Request for taxpayer identification number and certification

- Final negotiation of rates

- Signed subcontracting agreement

§ Registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) and if applicable in prime’s invoicing 

systems (5 days).

This process is time-consuming and adds cost to the government. Some consultants use an attorney to 

review the subcontracting agreement, resulting in additional costs and time.15 A subcontract 

administrator at a large prime contractor indicated the company’s standard for obtaining signed 

 

15 Army Enterprise Systems Integration Hub and Logistics Modernization Program, discussion with Section 809 Panel, August 2018.
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subcontract agreements is 21 days from receipt of the purchase request; however, these timeframes can 

balloon by a few months.16 All consultants stated they were at a disadvantage when negotiating their 

rate with prime contractors. 

Creating a Blanket Purchase Agreement 

Some federal agencies have devised creative strategies to buy independent consultants without 

excessively bureaucratic hiring procedures. GSA used the flexibility afforded by FAR 37.112 to 

establish a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with an 8(a) Business Development Program company 

to provide agency components the ability to quickly respond to brief or intermittent IT work 

requirements. Examples of hiring arrangements using this BPA include full-time personnel employed 

by the 8(a) and employees hired by the 8(a) as independent contractors. In an interview with the panel, 

a GSA official explained, “this BPA has become incredibly popular for short engagements,” giving the 

example of using developers when “we just need a person or two, not an organization, to come in and 

work a specific project for a short time.”17 

Direct Contracting with Independent Consultants

Occasionally, the government contracts with independent consultants directly. In these cases, 

individuals must be registered in SAM and accept a prime contract with the government, engaging

with a contracting process that includes requirements development, market research, competition, and 

negotiations. Even under simplified acquisition procedures, awarding such a contract would take at 

least 30–60 days to complete.

Simplified acquisition procedures are not the effective, expedited procurement solution for 

independent contractors they may appear to be. As the Section 809 Panel’s Volume 1 Report and 

Volume 2 Report discuss, such simplified procedures are far from simple, burdened by complex and 

often conflicting guidance in multiple sections of the FAR.18 Simplified acquisitions can end up looking 

more like a last resort than a preferred method. In theory, independent contractors can be acquired by 

using simplified acquisition procedures and staying below the simplified acquisition threshold of 

$250,000, assuming contracts are shorter than 7 months. Contracts could also be awarded using 

simplified procedures for certain commercial items under $7 million. In both cases, however, it is rare 

to find consultants acquired in this way, and the procedures remain more bureaucratic than simple. 

Even simplified contracting with consultants involves months of bureaucratic processes that can 

discourage both contractors and programs in need of help. As discussed in the Volume 1 Report, 

purchase of commercial items has actually decreased since the implementation of FAR Part 12 in 1995, 

with recent numbers showing a 29 percent decline from FY 2012 to FY 2017.

19

To expedite contracting and bypass government bureaucracy, one solution is the new concept of 

microconsulting, for which a consultant contracts with the government (or private organizations) for a 

short period of time. When used within the government, microconsulting contracts stay below the FAR 

 

16 Former CACI subcontract administrator, discussion with Section 809 Panel, February 2018. 17 GSA contracting officer, discussion with Section 809 Panel, July 2018. 18 See Section 809 Panel, Report of the Advisory Panel on Streamlining and Codifying Acquisition Regulations: Volume 1 of 3 (2018), 

Section 1: Commercial Buying, and Volume 2 of 3 (2018), Section 3: Simplified Commercial Source Selection. 19 Section 809 Panel, Report of the Advisory Panel on Streamlining and Codifying Acquisition Regulations: Volume 1 of 3 (2018), 17.
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micro-purchase threshold. This solution treats independent contractors like the commercial service 

they are, without burdening the acquisition with unnecessary contract clauses or conditions. 

Skylight, founded in 2017, offers microconsulting services to the government. The coleader (and former 

cofounder of 18F, the innovation arm of GSA) explains it this way: “Not every problem requires a fullblown consulting engagement. Often times, a short burst of work on a specific topic is all that's needed 

to help propel government managers and teams forward.” This approach is a means to, for example,

“obtain quick advice on the suitability and trade-offs of using a particular architectural pattern, 

delivery practice, or technology from digital experts.”20 Purchases under the micro-purchase threshold 

would limit a PM from receiving a complete consulting engagement, corresponding to less than one 

week at the $10,000 threshold. This creative solution is appealing to PMs desperate for help, but its 

limits create the potential for workarounds and abuses where PMs buy many of these small 

engagements to stay under the threshold.

The legal community has established a process to acquire expert witnesses and consultants on short 

notice, but even these simplified documentation processes can take several weeks to months to 

complete. Acquiring these experts follows a simplified procedure, provided the procurement remains 

below the simplified acquisition threshold.21 Although this process has a statutory exception to the 

Contracting in Competition Act (CICA), it still requires as a minimum a resume, funding documents, 

and a justification and approval document.22

A New Approach: Online Talent Marketplaces

Innovation in the commercial marketplace has combined the gig economy with e-commerce portals,

creating numerous online talent marketplaces that match employers with employees or independent 

contractors who meet company needs. One of the largest talent marketplace companies, Indeed, has 

more than 200 million unique visitors per month.23 Others include Upwork, Government Freelance 

Exchange (GovFlex), Freelancer, Gigster, ShortList, and PwC.

GovFlex, launched in 2016, is attempting to make this innovative workforce model available to the 

federal government. Designed to match independent contractors with federal agencies needing to 

access specific expertise quickly, GovFlex operates as an intermediary, profiting by assuming some of 

the bureaucratic burdens, terms, and conditions imposed on individuals and small businesses working 

with larger organizations. Currently operating only in the private sector, GovFlex leaders acknowledge 

the company has hit limitations bringing this marketplace to the government, including the current 

micro-purchase threshold. The company’s latest move has been to bid on a contract with a government 

agency to create a virtual business center linking 30,000 companies and 50,000 consultants. GovFlex 

leaders are in discussion with GSA about providing similar services. The GovFlex talent marketplace 

connects with high-demand experts and shows details such as their skills and resume, past 

performance ratings, hourly rates, availability, and security clearance access. Similar to commercial 

 

20 Chris Cairns, Skylight Digital, interview with Section 809 Panel, May 7, 2018. 21 Procurement Notice, 41 U.S.C. § 1708(b)(1)(G). 22 Industrial mobilization; engineering, developmental, or research capability; or expert services, FAR 6.302-3(a)(2)(iii). The Army Lawyer:

JAG Corps Professional Bulletin, 27-50-16-07, July 2016. 23 “About Indeed,” Indeed, accessed October 19, 2018, https://www.indeed.com/about. 
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talent marketplaces, consultants compete for work, and search algorithms match employer 

requirements to consultants nationwide.

These marketplaces provide solutions for employers to contract for the best talent faster and at lower 

cost. GovFlex provided a case study to illustrate. In 2016, Xerox solicited quotes from five Washington 

D.C., consulting firms. On average, the firms took 3 weeks to respond with quotes that included 

additional fees ranging from 40 to 100 percent. Xerox posted the same project on GovFlex and received 

quotes within 1 hour, saving $84,000 by going directly to the IT consultants.24 Other companies show 

similar benefits. In a pilot program, Procter & Gamble delivered products faster and at lower cost 

60 percent of the time by using a freelance talent management system instead of conventional 

methods.25

Congress continues to recognize the importance of aligning government buying to commercial 

practices and technology, most recently by promoting use of e-commerce portals. Section 846 of the 

FY 2018 NDAA directed GSA to “establish a program to procure commercial products through 

commercial e-commerce portals for purposes of enhancing competition, expediting procurement, 

enabling market research, and ensuring reasonable pricing of commercial products.”26 This initiative 

will deliver greater access to commercial innovation, increase opportunities to leverage commercial 

practices, and provide built-in competition of readily available supplies and services in the open 

marketplace. Based on similar technology, online talent marketplaces provide similar advantages for 

acquisition of commercial services. 

Acquiring Independent Consultants as a Pilot of Readily Available Services 

The Section 809 Panel has recommended new processes that will expedite procurement of readily 

available products and services (see Section 1), which if adopted, will subsume the existing commercial 

buying structure. The conceptual models for readily available acquisitions will encourage improved

collaboration with industry to identify solutions and better leveraging of the dynamic market in which 

the government functions. Readily available services require no customization and include short-term 

expert consulting services. Some acquisitions will fall in the category of readily available services with 

customization that are consistent with existing private-sector practices. Services are considered 

customized when a performance work statement, statement of objectives, or other form of governmentspecific direction is necessary to describe the required services. Both of these approaches expedite and 

modernize the process of contracting with IT consultants.

Because it will take time for the readily available concept to be implemented, a pilot program for direct 

contracting with independent consultants using an online talent marketplace as a facilitator could help 

bridge the gap. The results of this pilot would illustrate the potential of the readily available concept 

and can inform its development. It also provides an additional tool for accessing the growing 

community of experts who prefer to offer their services on an ad-hoc basis. As a pilot of the readily 

 

24 GovFLEX, “The Government Freelance Exchange White Paper,” July 24, 2018. 25 “On-Demand Talent vs. Legacy Labor Models: Key Stats,” Greg Andrade, SpareHire Blog, January 11, 2018, accessed October 30, 2018, 

https://www.sparehire.com/blog/on-demand-talent-vs-legacy-labor-models-key-stats/. 26 Section 846 of FY 2018 NDAA, Pub. L. No. 115-91 (2017). Codified at 41 U.S.C. 1901 note.
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available concept, this new authority helps begin transforming government processes to more closely 

resemble the efficiency and innovation of commercial best practices.

Conclusions

DoD should pilot an expedited contracting authority for IT consultants facilitated by an online talent 

marketplace tool with a qualified independent consultant list. This process would allow the federal 

government to contract quickly with experts in commercial IT, not experts in government-unique 

contracts. The talent marketplace concept follows both industry best practices and the Section 809 

Panel’s concept for acquiring products, services, and solutions that are readily available or readily 

available with customization.

27 DoD could use these two methods for contracting directly with 

independent consultants. 

Consultant services could be purchased with a government purchase card (GPC) as the transaction 

method for ordering online via the Talent Marketplace, with no additional FAR-based contract 

necessary. Using a GPC as the procurement transaction method would align with commercial 

practices, replace the paper-based contracting process, and reduce procurement lead times. This new 

authority should be detailed with changes to current GPC guidance in FAR Part 13. 

Alternatively, consultants could be purchased with a radically simplified contract that can be 

completed in less than 2 weeks. This authority should lie within the existing FAR Part 12 commercial 

framework, with the intent that it would model a simplified strategy for obtaining needed services 

from independent IT consultants. To highlight this approach as an innovative tool, the pilot program 

should have its own subpart of FAR Part 12, using the current authority of simplified procedures for 

certain commercial items falling under the threshold of $7 million.28 Contracts would be limited to less 

than 12 months. This talent marketplace tool would leverage the best practices of commercial industry 

and presents an opportunity for DoD to gain access to the gig economy. By eliminating unnecessary 

intermediaries and bureaucracy, DoD would be able to access the right talent faster and at lower cost.

Implementation

Legislative Branch

§ Authorize a 2-year, governmentwide pilot program for contracting directly with IT consultants 

via an online talent marketplace. Direct GSA and OMB to implement the pilot and report back 

to Congress on results.

Executive Branch

Based on the results of the pilot, implement the following regulatory changes to permanently authorize 

the program.

 

27 Services are considered customized when a performance work statement, statement of objectives, or other form of government 

specific direction about how to perform the services is necessary to identify the services to be performed. 28 Currently this authority exists in FAR 13.5, but Section 809 Panel recommendations in Volume 2 will consolidate all commercial buying 

policy into FAR Part 12. See Report of the Advisory Panel on Streamlining and Codifying Acquisition Regulations: Volume 2 of 3 (2018),

Section 3: Simplified Commercial Source Selection. 
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§ Change FAR/DFARS Part 13 to authorize the GPC as the purchasing and payment instrument 

for this pilot at the service level, in accordance with agency procedures and at the discretion of 

the Head of Contracting Activity (as identified in DFARS PGI 202.101).

§ Create a new section FAR 12.7, Independent IT Consultant Services, that provides authority and 

guidance for contracting with IT consultants via the online talent marketplace. This change 

places it in the logical part of the FAR that primarily focuses on procurements of commercial 

products and services.

- Contracts: Should take no longer than 2 weeks from solicitation to award and will follow 

these criteria:

o Qualification process for independent consultants: Prequalify independent 

IT consultants based on professional qualifications, pricing, simplified past performance 

references on contracts of similar work, and National Agency Check with Inquiries 

(NACI) background check. Consultants must be the sole employee of their companies 

and will receive facilitated SAM registration as part of the onboarding process in the 

talent marketplace. 

o Combined Public Announcement/Synopsis: Agencies shall publicly post on Federal 

Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) through an open continuous announcement the 

types of services desired and the process to become prequalified to perform IT Services 

categories in the online talent marketplace. FAR Part 12 contracts will be selected based 

on demonstrated competence and qualifications of prequalified consultants to perform 

the services at fair and reasonable prices. This combined open continuous 

announcement/synopsis will satisfy the synopsis requirements of FAR Subpart 5.207. 

Competition is established through market-based competition.

o Solicitations: The contracting officer shall use a request for quote and to the maximum 

extent practicable include only those clauses:

‒ Required to implement provisions of law or executive orders of commercial items, 

e.g., FAR 52.212-5.

‒ Determined to be consistent with customary commercial practice, e.g., FAR 52.212-4.

o Response Requirements: Requirements are posted to the talent marketplace and 

independent consultant(s) express interest, to include as applicable professional 

qualifications, pricing, and past performance references. To the greatest extent possible 

the services will be procured as readily available. If a primary weapons system Quality 

Assurance Surveillance Plan, or security clearance is required, the services will be 

considered readily available with customization and response time will be adjusted as 

appropriate.

o Basis of Award/Selection: Use FAR 12.602 and abbreviated criteria to evaluate factors 

including technical, price, and past performance. Technical capability may be evaluated 

by how well the consultant’s resume meets the proposed government requirement 

instead of predetermined subfactors. A technical evaluation may include examination of 
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professional qualifications necessary for performance. Simplified past performance 

evaluation may be made on any reasonable basis, such as references or quality of work 

as assessed by the talent marketplace’s online rating system of consultant job 

performance. Price reasonableness is based on multiple offers. Contracting officer will 

select the offer that is most advantageous to the government and briefly document the 

rationale for award. 

o Award: Contracting Officer awards a two-page contract on a Standard Form 1449 

contract that uses Block 27 to incorporate FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions

Commercial Items.

Implications for Other Agencies

§ The recommended changes to the FAR would apply to DoD and civilian agencies that use the 

FAR. Both DoD and civilian agencies will benefit from these recommendations.